Prey

Stalker

His prey lies somewhere ahead of him
Amidst the crowd
A smile forms unexpectedly upon his lips
The hunt is on
He moves forward
Sensing her presence
Every fibre of his being cries out for her
Yearns for her.....
Needs her
The urge is too strong
It cannot be opposed
It cannot be contained
The struggle ends quickly
He gives into it willingly
It`s what he is
Nothing can change that
Even if he wanted to
He's in his element now
Relaxed
At peace
An inner calm pervades his thoughts
The calm before the storm
Reluctantly he enters the human congestion before him
With ease he slips into the drone of people
Becoming invisible to those around him
He shifts effortlessly into the facade
Searching for his prey
He can remember every aspect of her
A perfect image in his mind
A vision of beauty
The calm shifts into excitement
He begins to imagine the things they will do
The things they will see
Eager in his pursuit he moves faster
Looking back and forth
His body stiffens
He feels uneasy
Something is wrong
She should have been here by now
For a moment his masquerade becomes noticeable
He feels vulnerable and exposed
Naked
Quickly he resumes his former stance
Breathing becomes more difficult
Something is definitely wrong
His mind races
Searching for an answer
A reason
Panic threatens to overwhelm his fragile psyche
And then he sees her
In the corner of his eye
For a split second
He barely caught a glimpse of her
It could have been anyone
Doubt creeps its way into his mind
A small voice speaks up in protest
It`s her
Confidence flows through him
Strengthening his resolve
His eyes narrow and search for his victim
There!
Outside on the sidewalk
He walks faster until he breaks out into a stride
He can`t lose her now
Not when she`s so close
He can almost smell her perfume
Feel her soft skin on his fingertips
He can wait no longer
All control breaks like a dam in his mind
Letting lust flood through his system
Taking over
He sprints
Pushing people aside
All logic and reasoning are swept away by his animal lust
He begins to shout her name
Screaming it as people move away
Until she hears
The look of horror on her face exhilarates him
She stands still for a moment
Frozen to the spot
He takes in her beauty
Soon he thinks
And then she screams
Heart pounding he races towards her
His trophy
His prize
She begins to run
Too late
People around him begin to understand
Try to stop him
Adrenaline courses through his veins
He pushes them away with ease
As if they were flies
And then he`s outside
The moon above is bleeding red
Somehow he finds it empowering
A sign
A portent of things to come
The girls instincts finally kick in
She runs
The streetlights act as spotlights
Highlighting the chase
They`ve been reduced to animals
A game of cat and mouse
Hunter....and the Hunted
Human logic and thought have been abandoned
Only survival remains
They enter a car park
Shadows edge closer
Eager to watch
He can`t see her
Panic begins to take the edge off his rush
Slowing him down
He taunts her
Details his plans for her
Fear overcomes her and she screams
He`s found her
She makes a final, desperate sprint for her car
Heels clicking as she runs
He`s almost on top of her
Now he can smell her perfume
And soon he will feel her soft skin under his fingertips
Then she turns
Sprays his eyes with a burning, hateful vengeance
Clawing at his face he falls back
Hot liquid fire rushes to the back of his head
Both screaming now
She runs to the car
Locks the door
Then realises that she doesn`t have her keys
They`re outside
Fallen out of her bag
She takes a moment to summon her courage
Sharpen it with a fine blade
She runs out
He`s almost on top of them
Cursing her name with a hateful spite
Dripping from the words like poison
She goes for her keys
He grabs her leg while clinging to his eyes
In a frenzy she kicks him in the face
Over and over
He loses consciousness but still she continues
Finally she walks back to the car
Her air of conviction back in control
For a moment she stares at him
Fixated upon his face
Slowly and calmly, she drives away

By David Opie aged 15